"Overcoming the Limitations of the Human Eye..."
The
Press on "More than Meets the Eye"
With
the exhibition "More than Meets the Eye," the Deutsche Bank Collection is
presenting a broad selection of its photographic works for the first time.
The spectrum of works shown ranges from classics like Bernd and Hilla
Becher to younger artists on the German photography scene. The show
focuses on the series and on the large scale typical to German
photography, which is represented in the Deutsche
Bank Collection with numerous important works. After the first station
of the exhibition at the MARCO Museum
in Monterrey, "More than Meets the Eye" is currently showing at the Antiguo
Colégio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City. The show that is touring
through seven Latin American museums met with overwhelmingly positive
response in the Mexican press.
Blick
in die Ausstellung im MARCO Museum in Monterrey
"What,
actually, is reality?" A visit to More
than Meets the Eye prompted Jorge Castaneda Ochoa from the
newspaper El Porvenir to investigate this question in two complete
articles. Impressed by the many different facets of the works shown, the
author praises the fact that the works "‘summoned’ to Latin America" by Friedhelm
Hütte represent "over 50 different perspectives, some of which
are individual, and some of which run parallel or are complete opposites…
common to all of them, however, is the attempt to construct an image of
the world." According to the author, the show’s particular value is the
"cultural interchange inspired by this exhibition of German photography
after 1945, which includes photographic works by such established painters
as Sigmar Polke
and Gerhard
Richter as well as the young art photographers."
The show
turns out to be "far more than just a cultural import." More
than Meets the Eye builds "a bridge whose foundation is based both on
the differences to Latin American photography and the aspects both have in
common." In his second article, his judgment turns out to be far more
philosophical: "The manner of reading suggested to the visitor as he or
she progresses through the museum halls is orientated according to a
subject interested in the construction of reality, but who ultimately
arrives at the conclusion that an objective reality does not exist."
Blick
in die Ausstellung im MARCO Museum in Monterrey
For
Gregory Duke in El Norte, the exhibition’s title evokes memories of Alexandro
Amenabar’s film hit Abre
los Ojos/Open Your Eyes, the story of which is better known to
international audiences through the Hollywood remake Vanilla
Sky; it describes a world in which reality and fantasy become
repeatedly blurred in the protagonist’s mind: "Merely looking does not
suffice to sum up our total perception: our impressions are always
determined by our memories, experiences, and feelings, and even by the
mood we happen to be in when we’re looking at something… the medium is
capable of capturing something in a way the human eye would never be able
to do.
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Yet when the retina joins forces with the rational mind,
there are limitless possibilities for experiencing reality." Thus, the
exhibition "arrests time for the visitor, enlarges details, and presents
everything in great clarity." That’s why Duke has only one recommendation:
"Fling yourself into this exhibition, look at it with your own eyes… and
mind."
Wim
Wenders, Streetfront in Butte, Montana, 2000,
Sammlung
Deutsche Bank, © Wim Wenders, Courtesy Haunch of Venison
Miguel
Angel Ceballos in El Universal writes: "The show, with works by 53
German photographers born between 1930 and 1977 and including the famous
filmmaker Wim Wenders, brings
images together that open up unexpected perspectives and overcome the
limitations of the human eye thanks to wide angle lenses and digital
manipulation." What he finds most convincing is the high quality of the
works “by such influential German photographers as Bernd
and Hilla Becher, Thomas
Struth, and Andreas
Gursky. They represent the multitude of photographic standpoints
ranging from classic black and white to collage and wide-angle
photography.”
"More than Meets the Eye is the
title of this exhibition, which refers to a metaphor for the numerous
meanings photography is capable of generating," says Samuel Mesinas in the Diario
Monitor. He quotes Ery Camaro, exhibition coordinator in San
Ildefonso: "This is a selection of works from different generations with
varying creative strategies that have all influenced the art world in a
major way." At the end of his insightful report, however, he mentions that
he missed one aspect in the show: "Still, it’s noticeable that political
themes are entirely absent. Visitors expecting a selection of German art
photography after 1945 will be disappointed."
Annegret
Soltau, Ohne Titel (Detail), 1975,
Sammlung
Deutsche Bank, © VG Bildkunst Bonn (Annegret Soltau)
On
the other hand, Tania Gabriela Ortiz in Milenio sums up the
exhibition in a way the little guy can understand: "Artists like Bernd and
Hilla Becher, Wolfgang
Tillmans or Andreas Gursky are only a few of the names in this
exhibition that show the public in Monterrey that Germany has a lot more
to offer than just hamburger, Beethoven, and soccer.”
This
view is shared by Alfredo Ortiz Santos in his article in the Crónica
after a visit to the exhibition in Mexico City, where "Germany is not only
omnipresent due to the soccer World Cup, but also because of a show of
photo works that present everyday 20th-century culture to today." He
underscores this statement with a quote by the director of San Ildefonso,
Paloma Porraz Fraser: "The show is dedicated to an important theme in
contemporary art. The German photography shown here represents works that
not only had a great influence and attracted attention at home; they
altered perception and photography on an international level, as well. For
the Museum San Ildefonso, showing these works has become an attractive
opportunity to win over a new audience."
Maria Morais
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